Chapter 117 Yes...
"General, you can't do that!"
As soon as Yuan Shao finished speaking, Chen Lin stood up.
"There is a saying in the Book of Changes that deer are safe, and there is another saying in the proverb that when you cover your eyes to catch sparrows, you must not deceive them to get what you want. This is the case with hunting, let alone national affairs?"1
Chen Lin bowed to Yuan Shao to show that he had no intention of disrespecting him, and continued, "I know that the general is facing a critical situation now. He is under pressure from the emperor and must take measures. But sending people to occupy Hedong and pretending to force him to do so will definitely not cause troubles. This is just deceiving yourself!"
"Gathering strong troops in the capital as external aid will surely make the strongest the strongest. If they turn their weapons against each other and give others an advantage, it is still unknown whether they can succeed, but chaos is inevitable! General Lin asks you to think twice."
When He Jin heard what Chen Lin said, he couldn't help but hesitate.
He looked towards Yuan Shao, but saw that he looked calm, and was obviously not deterred by Chen Lin's questioning.
"Benchu, just speak your mind."
Yuan Shao replied, "I know what Kong Zhang is worried about. Sending foreign aid to the imperial capital will undermine the emperor's authority. If it is not handled properly, there may be a greater counterattack. If Dong Zhongying has rebellious intentions, there will be other disasters."
Doesn’t Yuan Shao know Dong Zhuo’s abilities?
Of course not.
Even Liu Hong, who was ill, felt that Dong Zhuo, who had risen from Xiliang and had shown the demeanor of a tyrant since he made friends with the powerful, would definitely become a threat.
Not only does this man have the support of a group of Xiliang generals and a powerful military force, but he was also able to remain calm and use a clever strategy to escape when he was alone in pursuit of Han Sui and others and was besieged. He must have been surrounded by wise men.
If such a person were given the opportunity to officially send troops to Hedong, I'm afraid something big would happen.
But Dong Zhuo also has shortcomings that are more obvious than anyone else.
In this era where personal character and background are extremely important, Yuan Shao believed that he had no chance of overstepping his authority.
Because of this, Yuan Shao continued, "Since Shuying is here, I may offend people if I say something. Although Dong Zhongying has been appointed as the general for his contribution to the Western Liang, he is from Lintao and has no roots in the Central Plains. Even if he keeps his troops stationed in Hedong, it will be very difficult for him to move forward. Moreover, the general has the power to control us, and there are five schools of the Northern Army guarding the city. All these have been prepared in advance. This is not what Kong Zhang said, that there is no danger, but a purposeful move."
Of course, what he did not say much was that Dong Zhuo had been promoted by the Yuan family on his way to higher office.
This promotion was not too much, at least not enough to make Yuan Shao completely regard Dong Zhuo as one of Yuan's former subordinates. But in today's environment where reputation is important, if Dong Zhuo gets his help again, he should be grateful to the Yuan family no matter what.
Having said this, he glanced at Dong Min.
Dong Min was previously annoyed by the selection of the Eight Schools of Xiyuan and General Du Liao, and he bore a grudge against the aristocratic families.
If Liu Hong had not spread his drunken words, he would have quarreled with Yuan Shao long ago. But he also thought a lot about the situation where he was targeted and eliminated, and secretly felt resentful towards Yuan Shao, a child of an aristocratic family.
However, his mind was working quickly at this moment, and he knew that this might be the opportunity his brother had mentioned to him years ago, so he quickly added:
"General, please rest assured. My brother has always respected you. He was unwilling to be the Shaofu and Qingzhou governor before because he had made friends with the heroes of Liangzhou since he was young and was reluctant to leave. If the general has an order, my brother will obey it."
Dong Min almost swore to the heavens when he said this.
To be honest, He Jin felt a sense of familiarity when he saw his actions.
I don’t know if this sense of familiarity is because everyone comes from a humble background, or because Dong Min doesn’t look like he can use his brain.
So when he heard Dong Min say "The general has given an order, and you must obey it", he just felt that he was listening to some chivalrous words, and there was some credibility in them.
But before he could agree to Dong Min, another person present stood up.
“I still think this is inappropriate.”
He Jin looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person who spoke was Zheng Tai.
Zheng Tai and Zheng Gongye were selected as filial and honest people, but they refused to accept the imperial call and instead made friends with many heroes. They used their own 400 hectares of land to support righteous men and became famous in their hometown.
After He Jin took control of the general's power, he heard of this man's reputation and recruited him to work under him, with his external official position being Shang Shu Shi Lang.
Because he did not take the emperor's call seriously and instead joined the emperor's camp, He Jin had a special liking for him.
He asked, "I wonder if Gongye has any advice for me?"
Zheng Tai was different from Yuan Shao, who had to maintain face because of Dong Min's presence. The fact that he later conspired with He Yong and others to assassinate Dong Zhuo showed that he had a bad temper.
He replied, "Dong Zhuo is a man of both tiger and rhinoceros talents. He has already attacked Han Sui, but he is still greedy and has led his army deep into the hinterland. He is also a wolf, a ruthless thief, and even though Shuying vouched for him, he should not be trusted. General, you have eliminated one trouble first, and now another trouble has come!"
"The Xiliang bandits are greedy, cunning and fickle, and they are often seen on the move. Dong Zhongying was unwilling to hand over the military power to the central government. If he comes to the Central Plains for a grand reason, what reason should he use to send him back? Moreover, things will change as time goes by, and we are not far away from warning you. I hope the general will be cautious."
Dong Min subconsciously wanted to have a fight with Zheng Tailai in court.
But Zheng Tairu was only forty years old and had a heroic appearance. At this moment, he looked frankly at Dong Min, which made him worry that he would be at a loss for words if he quarreled with him.
He could only cast hopeful eyes on He Jin, as if to say that there are honest people in Liangzhou as well and he really can't win the argument.
"..."He Jin turned his gaze to Yuan Shao who made this suggestion.
Yuan Shao hesitated for a moment and replied, "I dare not make any rash judgments on the quality of people, but there is a way to prevent the general from worrying about Dong Zhongying's deployment of troops in Hedong."
He Jin's eyes lit up: "That's what Benchu said."
"In addition to summoning the former generals to advance to Hedong, please ask Bao Jibei, Ding Jianyang and others to recruit soldiers to support the east. And strictly order Dong Zhongying not to bring more than 3,000 soldiers with him, so that if something unexpected happens, he can be captured. What do you think?"
The Bao Jibei that Yuan Shao mentioned was Bao Xin, and Ding Jianyang was Ding Yuan.
These two people now also serve under General He Jin's command.
However, Bao Xin was the Prime Minister of Jibei at the time and was serving as an official outside the capital, while Ding Yuan was the Prefect of the Guards and was in the capital.
According to Yuan Shao, he would let one of them recruit soldiers near the capital, and the other recruit soldiers from Yanzhou. Dong Zhuo would deploy his troops in Hedong, northwest of Luoyang, to the east and west of them, forming a pincer attack.
If we could limit the number of soldiers brought by Dong Zhuo, there would naturally be less trouble.
He Jin was obviously quite interested in this idea.
If this method was followed, Dong Zhuo would not have played such a big role in this incident, and perhaps the disasters mentioned by Chen Lin and Zheng Tai could have been reduced.
Seeing that Zheng Tai still had something to say, He Jin quickly raised his hand to signal him not to say anything more.
But at this time, He Yong stood up again.
He Yong had previously presided over the meeting of the Three Dukes' Mansion and had also made many useful suggestions for He Jin's actions in the past few years. When He Jin saw him stand up, although he couldn't help lamenting in his heart that this suggestion was really full of twists and turns, he still motioned for him to express his opinion first.
"I have no objection to Benchu's suggestion," He Yong said, "but if the general wants Dong Zhongying to march east of the Yellow River, he must pay attention to one person. If Your Majesty hears the news and orders another person to march from the north, and orders General Huangfu to advance eastward, Dong Zhongying's coercion will be resolved in an instant."
Send troops from the north?
He Jin immediately understood who He Yong was talking about.
"Are you talking about Qiao Yeshu?"
"That's right." He Yong replied.
Because of the previous selection competition among the eight schools in Xiyuan, and because Qiao Yan asked Guo Jia to pass the message to He Yong first, but became the final winner, He Yong inevitably felt wary of Qiao Yan.
The mentality and methods of this Bingzhou Mu can never be measured by the standards of an ordinary young man. Last spring, she led her troops to attack the Xianbei and returned victorious, which made He Yong's evaluation of her rise to a higher level.
So if Liu Hong lets Dong Zhuo serve as He Jin's external aid and forces the current emperor to make a decision, does he really have no solution?
Not necessarily, he can still mobilize Qiao Yeshu as his trump card.
The soldiers under Dong Zhuo were trained on the battlefield in Liang Province, so how could the people under Qiao Yan not have experienced fighting against the barbarians?
If this contest is between equal numbers, the outcome is still unknown.
But if Dong Zhuo only came with 3,000 troops under the restrictions of He Jin, Qiao Yan would definitely have the upper hand if he sent troops from the mountain pass in the Fen River basin.
If Huangfu Song, who was still in Xiliang at that time, had returned to attack, the outcome of the battle would have been even more uncertain.
He Yong was afraid that this intimidation would fail to deter He Jin, and instead become a reason for the emperor to hold He Jin accountable and to initiate a reckoning with him.
"Bo Qiu is worrying too much about this," He Jin could answer the question without Yuan Shao saying anything. "According to the news from the Imperial Medical Bureau, Your Majesty probably won't live past April. I have no intention of killing the king, but I just want to ask Your Majesty not to make unwise choices during your illness. In this way, we only need to gain the upper hand in April."
"What a coincidence. Three days ago, Qiao Yeshu went outside the Great Wall to attack the Xianbei royal court as she did last year. After the incident last year, the Xianbei tribe must have migrated. It is not easy to find the royal court. Even if the emperor summoned her, she could not come."
He Jin laughed when he said this.
The timing for this Qiao Houbei to go outside the Great Wall is really bad.
When she returned, Liu Hong had probably passed away and Liu Bian had already ascended the throne.
It will not be too late for him to deal with the Bingzhou governor by then.
He Jin couldn't help but think that if Liu Hong hadn't deliberately concealed his physical condition to ensure that his secret mobilization of manpower would not be discovered, the Bingzhou general who was suppressing the rebellion would probably not really think that now was a good time to send troops north.
Liu Hong really dug his own grave.
However, without the help of Qiao Yan, it would not be easy to contain Dong Zhuo's troops relying only on Huangfu Song.
After all, Huangfu Song is not as rooted in Liang Province as Dong Zhuo. Although his military achievements are better than Dong Zhuo, if Dong Zhuo leaves his troops behind to confront Huangfu Song, the outcome may not be determined within a month.
With this guarantee, He Jin thought about it carefully and felt that what Yuan Shao proposed was indeed a feasible method.
He immediately ordered three letters to be written and sent to Ding Yuan, the Prefect of the Guards, Bao Xin, the Prime Minister of Jibei, and former General Dong Zhuo respectively, and then announced the dissolution of the meeting.
But when he walked out of the general's mansion, Zheng Tai, who had spoken earlier, still felt that He Jin's behavior was inappropriate.
He turned his head to look at the gilded plaque, sighed silently, and then took two quick steps to catch up with the person in front of him and asked, "Why didn't Gongda say anything in the hall before?"
The fellow traveler he caught up with was none other than Xun You from the Xun family of Yingchuan.
Since last year, Liu Hong's health has been getting worse, and He Jin's power has been increasing.
He had long been dissatisfied with the fact that only those who came to him to escape the persecution of the Party and Factions came to him.
Or perhaps, he also realized that he was becoming a tool for others to kill officials, so instead of recruiting scholars, he chose a different method.
After asking He Yong, Xu You and others to make a list, he sent out invitations to famous scholars from all over the world and "invited" more than a dozen of them to Luoyang. Xun You came at this time and served as the Yellow Gate Minister to the outside world.
This young man from the Xun family is six years older than his uncle Xun Yu, but he is only in his early thirties now.
Also, because Xun was so beautiful, at first glance, his demeanor and bearing were really different from those of ordinary people.
Hearing Zheng Tai's question, Xun You smiled and replied, "You already know that your words will not be accepted by the higher-ups, so why do you have to do such a meaningless thing?"
Zheng Tai sighed, "You are so good-tempered."
Although he said so, he also knew that although Xun You looked docile on the outside, and even a little slow and timid, he was actually an impassioned man, and he had his own ambitions and plans.
When the two of them walked a little further away from General He Jin's residence and no one could hear what they were saying, Zheng Tai suddenly said, "He Jin is not someone who can be assisted. Gongda also saw what happened in the hall today. It is said that letting Dong Zhuo keep an eye on Hedong and bringing him in as external aid is the most appropriate move at the moment. In fact, it is a short-sighted move. You and I know it very well."3
Seeing Xun You nodded without saying anything, Zheng Tai continued, "I intend to resign and leave my post, and not participate in this plan. If Luoyang really gets into chaos, I will find an opportunity to do something."
"Gongye is so hot-tempered that he really can't stay here now." Xun You replied as he walked away, "But I think that people like us who are watching chess can only launch a strike to break the game if we are in the game, so I want to stay here and watch it for a while."
"That's good." Zheng Tai was not too worried about Xun You's safety here.
Although the Xun family of Yingchuan is not as prominent as the Yuan family, whose four generations have been officials for three generations, the name of the Xun family's eight dragons is widely circulated among Ru and Ying, and is by no means ordinary. As Xun You is their descendant, he also has an extra reputation to protect.
He himself is a man of wisdom and strategy, so he is expected to be able to protect himself.
When Zheng Tai heard Xun You ask him where he was going, he asked, "How do you know I'm not going back to Kaifeng?"
Xun You just smiled and didn't answer, but the answer was clear without him having to say it.
If Zheng Tai wanted to stay away from Luoyang temporarily and wait and see what happened, he naturally could not choose his hometown.
He came here in response to He Jin's call, but now he has turned away from him. He has offended the general to some extent, so he has to stay away from him.
Zheng Tai knew the teasing meaning in his friend's smile, and he continued, "Yes, I don't plan to go back to Kaifeng. It's less than 400 miles from Luoyang to Kaifeng. If the general still wants to find me in his spare time, it will inevitably cause trouble. I will not stay in Henan, but go to the north to have a look."
He had no intention of keeping Xun You in suspense and continued, "I want to go to Bingzhou. He Boqiu and the general are both happy that Qiao Bingzhou sent troops out of the border, but I feel that if something goes wrong with the matter of luring Dong Zhuo to Hedong, the person who can settle it will be Qiao Bingzhou."
"But I only heard of it before, but I don't know its true nature. Now I will go to Bingzhou to take a look."
Quitting office and leaving is a relief.
Zheng Gongye had some fame in Henan, but he had no distinctive features and nothing to publicize. It would be better for him to walk around Bingzhou as a strange visitor.
Previously, he thought that He Jin had provided a place for many of his party members to settle down, which was truly a heroic act, so he came to Luoyang. Now that he felt that the other party's actions were different from what he expected, if he wanted to place hope in another person, he would think that he should go and find out for himself first.
Considering that Qiao Yan was outside the Great Wall and not in Bingzhou at that time, everything happening in Bingzhou became more real.
This is simply a perfect time to watch.
Xun You did not dissuade him from this idea.
He listened quietly to his friend's advice, saying that Dong Zhuo was "strong and unrighteous, and his ambitions were insatiable." If he stayed in the capital, he would have to act carefully. He nodded and replied, "You go now. If the situation is not favorable, I will find someone to protect you."
But if we must say it, if the succession of the throne is destined to be accompanied by bloodshed, then where can we find refuge?
After parting with Zheng Tai, Xun You walked the last stretch of the journey to his current residence in Luoyang, thinking in his heart that even the Son of Heaven, who was on the throne, would not be able to live out his last days in peace as he was targeted by the weapons of his foreign relatives.
In this world today...
He looked up at the sky. Although it was spring, the sky was gloomy, indicating that a storm was about to come.
It's more than just the gloomy sky.
In early April, there was a solar eclipse.
Even though it did not happen in Luoyang, it once again caused panic among the people.
Liu Hong issued an edict in the court to depose Ma Ritian from the position of Grand Marshal and wanted to appoint Nanyang Prefect Yang Xu as the Grand Marshal. 4
He was still holding on to his breath in the court, but as soon as he returned to the Jiade Hall, he fainted.
When he woke up, he looked outside the hall and saw that it was already late at night and candles had been lit inside the hall.
He tried to say something, but found that his voice was extremely hoarse when he opened his mouth, and he was almost voiceless.
The sky is sometimes dark, the sky is sometimes dark!
Even though he repeatedly told himself, just as Qiao Yan had said when he debated with Zhang Jiao, even if the most wise and intelligent monarch was in power, a solar eclipse was just a natural law and there was no need to link them together.
But when his life officially entered the countdown stage, the theories he had been exposed to since childhood told him that this seemed to be a sign for him.
A sign of impending death.
"open……"
As soon as he uttered a syllable, Zhang Rang ran to him and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to say more. I have asked people to keep the news of your coma secret and not let anyone know. Even if the Queen sent someone to ask, I would just say that Your Majesty is not seeing you for the time being."
"No... let them know." Liu Hong's expression was extremely ugly at this moment, but his eyes were surprisingly bright at this moment, like a fire that was about to burn out its last bit of energy at this moment, "Let He Jin know the news. Only when I am at this time of dying, will it not arouse his suspicion if I let He Jin come to the palace."
His already somewhat withered hand tightly grasped Zhang Rang's wrist, and he squeezed out a few words with great effort, "Secretly order Jian Shuo to use the people he has mobilized from the eight schools in the Western Garden, along with the available people in the Imperial City, to kill He if he enters the palace."
Seeing the hesitation flash across Zhang Rang's face, Liu Hong's face darkened, "Are you scared?"
"No! It is my duty to help Your Majesty with his worries and difficulties. How could I be afraid of this?" Zhang Rang said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, I just don't know where the news leaked out and let the butcher He Jin know about this plan."
Liu Hong's face changed, and he heard Zhang Rang say, "During the half day that Your Majesty was unconscious, news came that He Jin ordered Xiliang Dong Zhuo to march from Longxi to Hedong, apparently intending to intimidate the capital. I'm afraid he has been wary of Your Majesty for a long time, and he can't be lured here just because you are seriously ill."
Liu Hong almost couldn't catch his breath.
Only after hearing Zhang Rang exclaiming for a while did he regain his distracted state.
Zhang Rang looked at Liu Hong in a daze as he vomited blood again and looked even more exhausted. He couldn't help but regret having told Liu Hong about this.
But at this time, he could only tell Liu Hong about the situation. Otherwise, if they failed to kill He Jin, the situation would be pushed to an irreversible point.
He helped Liu Hong drink a few mouthfuls of the medicine soup, and took away the bloodstained silk handkerchief, allowing him to lie down peacefully again. After a long while, Liu Hong began to curse: "Sending troops to Hedong? Absurd! I am so wary of Dong Zhuo, but who is He Jin? How dare he give him such power? What a foolish man's opinion!"
"Draft an edict for me, ordering Qiao Yeshu to march from Bingzhou and capture Dong Zhuo."
Seeing that Zhang Rang did not move, Liu Hong shouted, "Go!"
Zhang Rang shook his head. "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, you forgot that it was you who approved Qiao Hou last month to let her go north to attack the Xianbei like she did at this time last year, so as to ensure that the Xianbei bandits would not invade Bingzhou this winter. It is far from time for her to come back."
At that time, Qiao Yan also said in his memorial that Youzhou and Jizhou had just experienced the rebellion of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun, and were now in the process of restoring people's livelihood.
If we had just had a small harvest in spring or autumn and were attacked by the Xianbei in winter, it would probably cause public resentment.
Since she has spare resources in Bingzhou, she might as well take this opportunity to hunt in the border area and demonstrate the power of the Han Dynasty for His Majesty.
What was Liu Hong thinking at that time?
He thought that he could take He Jin with him before he died and let Dong Chong take over military affairs. So it would be a good thing for Qiao Yan to maintain peace for him outside, so he approved it immediately.
But he never imagined that He Jin, a common man, would make such a ridiculous decision after getting the news from somewhere.
But at this critical moment when Qiao Yan could have been used to break the deadlock, she was not in Bingzhou!
The area beyond the Great Wall is so vast, not to mention that Qiao Yan had already set out for several days. It was almost impossible to find any trace of the army she led, not to mention that she would defeat Dong Zhuo's troops before the right time.
It was really such an unfortunate moment for her to leave!
At this moment, who else could possibly attack Dong Zhuo's troops?
I’m afraid General Du Liao can’t do it!
In Liu Hong's view today, He Jin and the Yuan family of Runan are in cahoots with each other, and Han Fu, the General of Du Liao, is an old official of the Yuan family. If Han Fu were to pretend to obey but actually disobey, it would inevitably cause the first disruption to his plan.
Huangfu Song is no good either!
Just as He Jin guessed, Liu Hong was not optimistic that Huangfu Song could repel Dong Zhuo in the short term unless he was given more authority to recruit soldiers.
But Liu Hong could never forget that Huangfu Song rarely lost a battle and was even advised to take the throne directly.
Huangfu Song did not have this idea in the early years, but now he has to make the worst plan and be wary of him.
When Liu Hong thought about the fact that he was in a situation where no one was available to him, he felt extremely sad.
If the Han Dynasty was handed over to Liu Bian under such coercive circumstances, what difference would it be between handing it over to He Jin!
If that was the case, he might as well call Liu Bian to the Jiade Hall and strangle him to death.
No... not yet.
Liu Hong turned his gaze to the candle at the end of the bed and stared at the burning flame for a long time without moving his eyes away. When Zhang Rang almost thought he was going to give up, he suddenly heard Liu Hong say, "It is not appropriate to do anything to alert the enemy at this time."
So even after he ruled out Qiao Yan and Huangfu Song, the next person he thought of was Lu Zhi, he had no intention of using him to compete with He Jin.
"Come closer to my ear."
Zhang Rang felt as if he saw a gleam of almost desperate intent in Liu Hong's slightly closed eyes.
After hearing what Liu Hong said in his ear, he couldn't help but gasp.
Such a plan!
Your Majesty's idea is shocking, but... it is also somewhat feasible.
"If you and Jian Shuo can do this for me, your lives will be safe." Liu Hong sighed and continued, "Help me up, and I will write two edicts for you. One is for you to support my son Liu Xie to ascend the throne after you have completed these two tasks, and the other is -"
"Once Qiao Yeshu returns to Bingzhou, if the situation has not been settled yet, immediately ask her to come with this imperial edict to purge the emperor!"
"Do you understand?"
Zhang Rang did not dare to hesitate.
The candlelight in the Jiade Hall cast a distinct look of death on Liu Hong's face, but the fierce light in his eyes made people feel as if they were not seeing an emperor, but a gambler.
He immediately replied: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely do it for you!"
But when he thought of Liu Hong's instructions just now, he couldn't help but feel scared.
This Majesty, he is truly a sacrifice for everything...
However, the decisions Liu Hong made at this time had nothing to do with Qiao Yan.
Even though she was in Bingzhou, she was separated from the ups and downs in Luoyang City by the Yellow River and the Taihang Mountains, not to mention that she was now on the grassland, with the Yinshan Mountains in between.
With two shrewd men, Jia Xu and Cheng Yu, guarding Bingzhou for her at this time, she was not worried at all about any trouble.
Of course, what made her feel most at ease was——
Neither of these two is a big fan of the Han Dynasty.
He would never lead his troops to fight when he could not contact her temporarily just because he received news that they needed to go to Sili to rescue the emperor.
And this time when she went out to the border, in order to protect herself from Budugen's plot, she brought Guo Jia along as well and made him a military advisor.
Guo Jia originally thought that going to the frontier was an enjoyable activity during the holidays, but after two days of bumpy journey on horseback, he felt like he was about to fall apart.
"For a moment, I don't know whether I should envy Brother Zhicai for being sent to Leping to be treated by Hua Tuo, who was invited back by Qiao Hou, or whether I should envy Wenhe and Zhongde for working in Jinyang when they are busy and playing chess when they are free."
Qiao Yan looked at Guo Jia and was speechless at his current state.
This time when they came to Mobei, they brought some "defective products" that were of little use to Bingzhou as gifts to comfort Budugen.
These things naturally need to be loaded on large carts and boxes.
Guo Jia was not used to riding a horse for a long time, so he just lay down in one of the boxes. This scene was really...
"If Fengxiao is also to be used as a bargaining chip, I think the Xianbei tribe will have to add another 20,000 cattle and sheep." Qiao Yan couldn't help but teasing when he saw his current situation.
Guo Jia was too lazy to move, he just turned over in the box and replied: "Then Marquis Qiao, remember to snatch me back in the autumn, it won't hurt for us to do a zero-cost business once a year."
Qiao Yan raised his eyebrows, "Should we ask them to give you an additional gift of apology for their harsh treatment of you?"
Guo Jia replied: "That would be great."
Faced with this shameless group of people, Budugen felt like he was going to die.
This time, Qiao Yan went straight out of Yanmen, but took a detour. When Budugen was unaware of their whereabouts, they had already circled to the north of the Xianbei royal court.
When she sent a messenger to see him and asked him to go and meet her, Budugen almost dropped the cup in his hand.
When he led a few riders to see Qiao Yan's troops stationed here in a dignified manner, he adjusted his expression with difficulty and asked, "I wonder what is the purpose of Lord Qiao's visit?"
Wasn’t it agreed that... he would pay tribute and she would be obedient?
Qiao Yan replied, "First, I want to send you some inferior coal in Bingzhou, some mulberry and fur clothes like last year, and some extra rice and wheat, in exchange for more horses."
Budugen looked at the unloaded boxes behind Qiao Yan. If they really contained coal, clothing and food as she said, then she was here to be the God of Wealth! There’s no harm in exchanging!
However, he did not realize that there was a clear pause when Qiao Yan said the word "inferior".
She continued, "Besides, the last time I came here, I brought three generals with me. This time, apart from Wen Yuan who is an old acquaintance of yours, I simply changed two so that everyone can recognize each other. Even if you are not familiar with them, you will become familiar with them after a few fights."
Qiao Yan pointed at Dian Wei and Zhao Yun who were with the team, and gave Budugen a kind smile.
“That’s the one.”
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